Best ultrabook for linux? [April 2013 edition] • Hacker News Board

Re: Best ultrabook for linux? [April 2013 edition]

#51

Post by anonymfus » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 2:32 PM UTC

loxs wrote: post #40

gambiting wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, it kind of is a question, since I asked it as I would like to know why people do it. Feel free to ignore it though, there's plenty of other comments more on topic for you.

My work (and hobbies) involve lots of linux specific programming. Most of the things (but not all) can be done on MacOS, but almost always linux is the better tool for me, getting my work done. Developing blindly on MacOS, not knowing whether (and how) will it run on linux can't be as good as developing on EXACTLY the same OS that will later run the production version. Using exactly the same (to the exact version) di…

Why not use virtualization?

Re: Best ultrabook for linux? [April 2013 edition]

#52

Post by w1ntermute » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 2:33 PM UTC

loxs wrote: post #27

w0ts0n wrote: post #13

I really like the x1 Carbon. Nice and light, touch screen is optional and Lenovo is pretty good with Linux support.

At least in European stores, I can't find one with more than 1600x900 pixels. That's too old nowadays.

Have you actually used a 14" laptop with a 1600x900 screen? When I got the X1 Carbon, I was worried that I was giving up a higher resolution screen in order to get a ThinkPad ultrabook. But I've found that even 1600x900 is actually too high a resolution for me, without scaling. For example, I've got HN scaled right now to 125%. A friend of mine has an ASUS ultrabook (the Zenbook Prime UX31A) with a 1080p screen and it was impossible to read anything on it, the text was so tiny.

You can read about my experiences with the X1 Carbon here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4848375

I'm typing on that same laptop right now and loving it.

Re: Best ultrabook for linux? [April 2013 edition]

#53

Post by false » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 2:33 PM UTC

octo_t wrote: post #14

Macbook Airs (or 13" MBP Retina) is (in my experience) the nicest choice for an ultrabook. - Installing Linux is really easy - Macbook Air isnt' full hd, but the retina is obviously better than full hd - they've all got SSDs - Macbook keyboards are amazing - my air will last for about 8-9 hours of light use (vim etc) between charges

Does hibernation or maybe even some kind of hybryd-sleep works well for you?

Re: Best ultrabook for linux? [April 2013 edition]

#54

Post by JimmaDaRustla » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 2:37 PM UTC

sctechie wrote: post #44

I recommend buying a piece-of-shit Dell and putting an aftermarket SSD + memory in there. Personally, I develop on cheap Dell slammed full of RAM running a Linux VM inside of Windows. I know the 'cool' kids aren't into Dell and Windows and all that but you can get a faster machine for less money if you stay away from Apple. Unless you are running a server, there is no reason to be running Linux directly on your hardw…

Same - windows offers reliability, especially when your hardware drivers get forgotten when they no longer work with updated software and updated kernel down the road.

I run CLI Arch Linux in a VM and use samba for shared folders. Usually I just end up coding right in the SSH terminal. You also develop good habits when it comes to deploying to a production environment, plus capable of managing multiple environments and keeping them separate.

Edit: BUT, for Ultra Books, I am looking at buying an Asus Zenbook Touch UX31A with an i5. Top quality build and nice keyboard, has great reviews. The Dell XPS ultrabook looks good too, but doesn't have the same quality as the Asus.

Re: Best ultrabook for linux? [April 2013 edition]

#55

Post by loxs » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 2:39 PM UTC

pajju wrote: post #46

This decision is purely a function of cost, portability, features. And you might have to compromise on something, be prepared. My choice: Asus Ultrabooks. In my case, I couldn't afford a Macbook Air, (I badly wanted a MAC, I couldn't buy with my budget, but just somehow managed to get an ASUS Ultrabook with EMI's) About Asus Ultrabooks-- Compared to MAC's: - They are much much cheaper, ( almost half the price) not co…

Hmm, interesting. Where I live (Europe), Zenbooks are almost the same price as Macbook Air.

Re: Best ultrabook for linux? [April 2013 edition]

#56

Post by leashless » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 2:41 PM UTC

thelittlelisper wrote: post #36

My favorite options are the Air (11 / 13) and Thinkpad x220. Other options include Thinkpad x230 (newer than the x220) but worse keyboard, x1 Carbon, Dell XPS, Chromebook Pixel, Asus and Samsung. I ended up buying both an Air 11 (my own money) and a x220 (my employer). Both machines are really well supported under Linux (most hardware is Intel). The only drawback is their low resolution screen, which IMHO is not a de…

I have an x220 but I haven't been able to get the power consumption that low. I have tried quite a few things. Could you suggest a link/reference/method please?

Re: Best ultrabook for linux? [April 2013 edition]

#57

Post by jonnydover » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 2:42 PM UTC

cjbprime wrote: post #9

I'm considering getting the Pixel and running Linux on it, but am extremely annoyed by the lack of upgradable storage. The $250 Samsung ARM Chromebook has USB3 (~100MB/s) and a fast (~50MB/s) SD card controller. The $1300 Pixel only has USB2 and a slow (USB2) SD card controller and no real PCIe slots, which means that you can never get more than ~17MB/s when trying to increase the tiny internal storage.

Honestly, the $250 ARM Chromebook is among the very best things you could do for development (in my opinion). I can use ChromeOS for when I'm not doing anything hardcore and then just open a chroot jail (via crouton https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton) with a full xubuntu/xmonad install when I really want to get cracking. Both open so quickly it's almost disorienting, either from start or from sleep. It's the same size and weight as a Macbook Air and the battery life is outstanding (I've come quite close to the 9 hr mark when I'm not listening to music on speakers). The only downside, at least for the purposes of this question, is that it isn't fully HD, or rather isn't 1080p which is what I assume the OP meant. Still, I'd say that this is by far the best computing investment I've ever made, and I'm happier with this than I am with the $1000 laptop I got 6 months ago.

Re: Best ultrabook for linux? [April 2013 edition]

#58

Post by gambiting » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 2:46 PM UTC

loxs wrote: post #40

gambiting wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, it kind of is a question, since I asked it as I would like to know why people do it. Feel free to ignore it though, there's plenty of other comments more on topic for you.

My work (and hobbies) involve lots of linux specific programming. Most of the things (but not all) can be done on MacOS, but almost always linux is the better tool for me, getting my work done. Developing blindly on MacOS, not knowing whether (and how) will it run on linux can't be as good as developing on EXACTLY the same OS that will later run the production version. Using exactly the same (to the exact version) di…

Thanks a lot for the answer, it makes sense. And don't worry,no offence taken ;-)

Re: Best ultrabook for linux? [April 2013 edition]

#59

Post by loxs » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 2:48 PM UTC

sctechie wrote: post #44

I recommend buying a piece-of-shit Dell and putting an aftermarket SSD + memory in there. Personally, I develop on cheap Dell slammed full of RAM running a Linux VM inside of Windows. I know the 'cool' kids aren't into Dell and Windows and all that but you can get a faster machine for less money if you stay away from Apple. Unless you are running a server, there is no reason to be running Linux directly on your hardw…

I work like that when I need to run other stuff on the Windows side. But that's on my monster desktop machine.

Now I want to buy a small ultrabook, and on that, running 2 OSes sounds suboptimal. It might work of course, but I can't try it before buying, so I don't really like the of risking. I want a good machine, that is known to run linux well.

And no, I don't want a cheap 1366x768 screen and crappy keyboard. Yes, I can live with cheap CPU, RAM etc. And in fact the best machine for me would be with good screen/kbd and cheap everything else. But no one manufactures such, at least to my knowledge :(

Re: Best ultrabook for linux? [April 2013 edition]

#60

Post by loxs » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 3:01 PM UTC

jonnydover wrote: post #57

cjbprime wrote: post #9

I'm considering getting the Pixel and running Linux on it, but am extremely annoyed by the lack of upgradable storage. The $250 Samsung ARM Chromebook has USB3 (~100MB/s) and a fast (~50MB/s) SD card controller. The $1300 Pixel only has USB2 and a slow (USB2) SD card controller and no real PCIe slots, which means that you can never get more than ~17MB/s when trying to increase the tiny internal storage.

Honestly, the $250 ARM Chromebook is among the very best things you could do for development (in my opinion). I can use ChromeOS for when I'm not doing anything hardcore and then just open a chroot jail (via crouton https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton ) with a full xubuntu/xmonad install when I really want to get cracking. Both open so quickly it's almost disorienting, either from start or from sleep. It's the same…

Hmm, probably for that money I should just risk and buy one. It has the potential to save me at least one megabuck...